By Michael Mondezie
In less than a year, Dianne Ramdeen has gone from behind the cash register to behind the microphone, churning out an EP’s worth of original music. Little did she know humming a tune while ringing up the till at the drugstore where she works would open a door to a whole new magical world.
‘It’s fun. I have a lot of fun working with Oliver Chapman,’an affable Ramdeen told the Kitcharee Friday.
One look and Chapman says he knew she was a star.The veteran musician, who toured the world with his band Wildfire in the late 70s and early 80s, says he invited Ramdeen on the spot to feature on his 2021 album A Story Only I Can Tell.
‘Somehow, I just knew that this pretty girl, behind the counter, was going to pull it off and make a difference,’Chapman shared Friday. On Chapman’s 2022 album project O’How I Wish Ramdeen sings lead vocals on remake of Wildfire’s 1979 hit ‘My Life‘, originally sung by Wildfire vocalist Anstey Hamilton.The video for the project has racked up thousands of views on YouTube.
‘I don’t know how she does it; she just does it.There’s something about her naked innocence that doesn’t spare us the penetrating melancholy of the lyrics of that song,’Chapman said of Ramdeen’s outstanding delivery.
LEARNING FROM THE MASTER
Being in studio with Chapman is the best classroom any young musician could hope for, Ramdeen said. Above all she has taken to the veteran vocalists ability to get lost deep inside the lyric when recording.
‘The more time I spend with him the better I
get. I’ve always loved to sing but it’s always been a hobby to me. Now I’m thinking of a career in music, about what stages I will go on and how many people I can reach with my positive messages,’ she beamed. Chief of those messages, Ramdeen says, is letting women know that there is always a bright side to every challenge they face.
‘In spite of whatever you face in life you must always have hope and look on the bright side.That’s my message.The things you hear me sing about in ‘Hard Life’I actually pass through that. I want to tell people you too can overcome, I love being a positive lead others can follow,’she said.
Producer Roger Israel, who has worked with both acts in studio in recent months, says the chemistry they share in the recording booth is undeniable. Israel predicts Ramdeen can make a real impact on local music in the coming years.
‘The response to her work so far has been very encouraging, especially when one considers that that deep emotional expressiveness is so unlike what her contemporaries are currently doing. We are humbled by the reception,’Israe
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